Looking for Hot Italian Sausage Formula

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sorrydude
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Looking for Hot Italian Sausage Formula

Post by sorrydude » Tue Nov 07, 2017 10:08

I consider the hot Italian sausage that I grew up eating the best I've experienced. I've been many places and tried many hot Italian sausages and never came across one that I liked nearly as much. I want to try to replicate the formula at home.

According to the list of ingredients on the packaging, the sausages are made up of:

Pork
Salt
Black Pepper
Red Pepper
Paprika
Fennel Seed
Tomato Juice

I'm assuming that they list the items in order by weight. I'm also not sure what kind of red pepper, dried red pepper flake or hot red pepper paste.

I was thinking of trying the following.

1kg Pork Shoulder
17g Salt
15g Black Pepper coarsely ground
15g Red Pepper Flakes
15g Paprika
15g Fennel Seed
13g Tomato Juice

I was wondering if anyone has ever used tomato juice in mild or hot Italian sausage and if so, how much did you use? Also, what do you think about my initial test formula? Any suggestions for change, while keeping ingredients in the correct order listed, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.
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K98 AL
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Post by K98 AL » Tue Nov 07, 2017 13:31

I'm far from an expert, but I'd be concerned about the acidity in the tomato juice. Hopefully someone here with more experience can address that - I was wondering about the acidity in canned peppers affecting bind as well. I can't imagine introducing acid can help...
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Tue Nov 07, 2017 15:05

Welcome to the Forum dude!
You are pretty heavy on the spices. There are some general guidelines here: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/secrets

I would try something like this make a small batch and adjust to taste.


1kg Pork Shoulder
18g Salt 1.8%
3g Black Pepper coarsely ground .3%
3g Red Pepper Flakes .3%
3g Paprika .3%
6g Fennel Seed .6%
50ml Tomato Juice 5.0 %

I would add:
2g Sugar .2%

Al-
Tomato juice is less acidic than most wines so should not be a problem
LOUSANTELLO
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Fri Nov 10, 2017 14:36

It all depends on what you're looking for. I have a spreadsheet with 5 or 6 friends different recipes that they prefer. All you need to do it input the meat weight and it calculates all the spices for you. Each one is different. Here's an example of what I like. I put the fennel seeds thru a food processor and chop them up which creates a more even taste without biting into a bunch of seeds. I also chop the dried pepper flakes.

1Kg Pork shoulder
15 g salt
2g black pepper
2.4g red pepper flakes
1g ground fennel

What is the tomato juice do? I've never heard of this. Please advise.
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Post by sorrydude » Fri Jul 06, 2018 23:01

LOUSANTELLO wrote:What is the tomato juice do? I've never heard of this. Please advise.
Sorry for not responding sooner. I think that the tomato juice just works the same as using a wine or even water. It gives the seasoning mix something to distribute more evenly in when mixed with the meat, keeps the temperature down, and provides a little more juice to the end product.
K98 AL wrote:I was wondering about the acidity in canned peppers affecting bind as well. I can't imagine introducing acid can help...
If you do find that there is a problem with binding, you can always add Bicarbonate of Soda at .1% or 1g for a kg of meat, but I haven't had a problem with this formulation.

I haven't found a formula that I like as much as the sausages made at the little Italian grocers. Following is the formula that I have settled on at home.

1kg Pork Shoulder
17g Salt
6g Black Pepper
6g Red Pepper Flake
4g Paprika
4g Fennel Seed
50ml Tomato Juice
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